Post #150612 by Thomas on Fri, Apr 1, 2005 9:24 AM

I found the record; the cover is slightly different from the one you show; it is "Famous Motion Picture Actor Jon Hall Directs Music from Honolulu." I guess it is the second of the two you mention. Mine has him and that woman closer-up, but in the same outfits (same photo shoot apparently). The reason I got so excited about your post is, I have long considered this one of my best Hawaiian albums. It does indeed have a truly authentic feel and sound. On the back it has very detailed and sometimes humorous details about the recording process, "made at the bar in the La Haina Hotel without the aid of any soundproofing or acoustical advantages we have here..." (Interestingly, that's the La Haina Hotel in Maui (right?), therefore the album title referring to Honolulu is incorrect, no?) Anyway, to top it all off, my copy is in excellent condition and is signed, "To Loretta and Bill --- Warmest Aloha, Jon and Raquel." (I am nearly sure it's "Raquel" -- it's not 100% clear.) Can you shed any light on "Raquel" -- is it the woman pictured -- his wife at the time perchance? (I can google this too of course...) So thanks again for the excellent and colorful post, and it shows how one topic -- Polynesian restaurant "archaeology" and history -- leads to another, namely Hawaiian music and a little gem from my collection. I hadn't known a thing about Jon Hall -- figured it was all a bit of hype, really -- but now I guess the next step is to seek out some of those movies...